Tehran (TDI): Iran has warned about its possible use of Article 10 of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a legal mechanism for its withdrawal from the historic agreement, if the United Kingdom, France, and Germany pursue reviving United Nations sanctions.
Through a formal letter to the UN Security Council, Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani condemned the European trio known as the E3 for presenting a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) backed by the United States, and pushing for the activation of the sanctions restoration clause of the 2015 nuclear accord.
In his Wednesday letter, Iravani denounced the E3 campaign as a legally unfounded and politically irresponsible act, with deeply destabilizing implications for regional and international peace and security.Â
Ambassador Iravani denied the “charge” that the Iranian defense policy had shifted to the development of nuclear weapons, insisting that such a charge is a calculated effort to create a crisis. He warned that Iran might consider a proportionate response, possibly including withdrawal from the NPT under Article 10, which allows for a state party to withdraw if extraordinary events endanger its supreme national interests.Â
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He insisted that Iran’s nuclear policy is absolutely peaceful, based on both legal undertakings under the NPT and a firmly rooted religious and strategic defensive doctrine barring weapons of mass destruction.
The ambassador put a strong emphasis on Iran’s diplomatic preference, insisting that the country remains committed to a negotiated settlement that ensures sufficient assurances regarding the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.
As tensions between Iran and the European signatories of the 2015 nuclear agreement remain unresolved, Tehran’s threat represents a possible turning point in the ongoing US-Iran talks which have not yet come to any decisive agreement.Â
The next few days will be critical in determining whether diplomacy will succeed or the international nuclear regime will take a severe blow.
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